On a bright, sunny August morning, the fields
still wet from the night's dew and the birds singing
in the woods surrounding me, Joanna Miller and I headed off to Baton Rouge
for a fun workshop. The
Friends of LSU Hilltop Arboretum sponsored a talk and tour at the Burden
Research Center. Dr. Owusu Bandele, Plant
Scientist and Certified Organic Farmer; Dr. Carl Motsenbocker,
Horticulturist; and Chris Campany, organizer of activities and market
garden "enthusiast," were our
hosts.

You might ask, what does organic gardening have
to do with native plants. Since all things
in nature are connected, the answer is just about everything. The most
critical element in all things that grow
is SOIL!! If you do not have a healthy and well balanced soil,
you have poor results, no matter what you are trying to grow.

A definition of organic production is the enrichment
of a garden soil with naturally occurring
plant foods and the control of garden pests (insects, diseases, weeds)
by environmentally safe methods.

THIS MEANS NO CHEMICALS in
the garden...

Organic foods are produced under a system of
ecological soil management which relies on
building humus levels through crop rotations, recycling organic wastes
and applying balanced mineral amendments.

Considering our particular soil challenges here
in the south, site selection for organic gardens
is an important component. Full sunlight and good drainage are necessary
for success. You should begin with a manageable
size and properly prepare your seed beds with
raised or square foot gardens.

Composting
plays a major role in any attempt to begin organic gardening, even on
a small scale. The advantages of composting are:

Yarrow
and Comfrey
leaves are just two plants that help greatly. These herbs bear naturally
concentrated forces within them and are used to "organize" the
chaotic elements within the compost pile. When the process is complete,
the resulting soil created becomes "medicine" for the Earth.

We found that organic gardening is not just
about eliminating the use of synthetic fertilizers
and pesticides from the garden. The workshop took a more holistic view
of the garden as a system, focusing on the
inter relationships between the health of the soil, plants
and one's personal health.

Since we gain our physical strength from the
process of breaking down the food we eat, it makes
sense that the more vital our food is, the more it stimulates our own
health and activity.

The garden is also a teacher, and does provide
the educational opportunity to imitate nature's
wise self-sufficiency within a limited area.

If you have been dismayed in recent times by
the lack of flavor and nutrition in commercially
available produce, then you do have an alternative by beginning a small-scale
garden of organically grown food. It is not as challenging as you may
think. There is a lot of help in our area.

You can get information from the SU/LSU
AgCenter Extension and Research Center. Help is available on the internet
and from ATTRA-
1-800-346-9140.

There is also a Baton Rouge group known as BREADA
. Their mission is to build community, promote sustainable economic development
and protect the environment through the creation of a local and just agricultural
economy which fosters stewardship of land and community. This workshop
was cosponsored by them. For more information call HILLTOP
at 225-767-6916 or email them at hilltop@lsu.edu
.

After a delicious lunch consisting of all organically
grown foods, we caravanned to three nearby gardens where we had an opportunity
for questions and answers while experiencing several garden patches.

Happy gardening to all.

For additional information about Composting check
out the following sites. There are also commercial composting bin sites
that provide good basic information. You don't have to buy a bin to have
great compost.